Launch of LED Streetlights in Kolkata

Date

01 December 2010

Kolkata, India, December 1, 2010: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), in association with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), West Bengal State Electricity Development Corporation Limited (WBSEDCL) and West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB), is implementing a LED streetlight pilot project in arterial roads across the city with overall facilitation by The Climate Group. With this project, Kolkata joins a select group of leading global cities, including New York, London and Hong Kong, among others in launching an LED pilot project for streetlighting.

Out of the 273 LED streetlights planned to be installed in Kolkata under the The Climate Group’s LightSavers Programme, 60 fixtures have been installed in the last two months in two locations – 20 LEDs in Kalighat in October 2010 and 40 LEDs surrounding the KMC Headquarter Building during the last week of November 2010. The locations of the remaining 218 streetlights have also been finalized.

On November 30, 2010, the project was launched by KMC and The Climate Group in Kolkata. The event was presided by the Mayor, KMC and attended by around 100 persons from municipal corporations and development authorities of neighbouring cities, utilities, public works department, as well as members of the partner organizations of this initiative including WBSEDCL and WBPCB. The event started with The Climate Group giving an introduction of the programme and airing of the HSBC Climate Partnership (HCP) film. This was followed by addresses of other dignitaries including the Municipal Commissioner, KMC; Secretary, BEE; Chief Executive officer, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and Yenten Lama, CEO’s Representative, Eastern India, HSBC India. A technical presentation by Philips was also included and several queries on LEDs were clarified.

Shri Sovan Chatterjee, Mayor, KMC appreciated the initiative and indicated about upscaling it across the city. Shri Arnab Roy, Municipal Commissioner, KMC thanked BEE for providing 50% grant for the project and also appreciated The Climate Group’s efforts. He sought The Climate Group’s assistance in coordinating for a roof-top solar project on KMC building for meeting a section of the electricity load of the building. Mr Jiwesh Nandan, Chief Executive Officer, EESL thanked The Climate Group and pointed out the business opportunities in taking up large scale LED projects across the country. Ms Abha Shukla, Secretary, BEE appreciated the effort of KMC. Mr Yenten Lama, Head of Group Communications and Corporate Sustainability, HSBC also appreciated the efforts and said LED lighting is one of the key technologies that can improve living conditions, create jobs and cut energy bills and emissions.

Monitoring phase of project will begin in December 2010 to measure the performance of the lights, including illuminance, uniformity, colour temperature and energy savings, and will be carried out over a year. Findings from the Kolkata pilot project will confirm whether the new LED lights meet Indian streetlighting standards and could provide the basis for a possible scale-up strategy. Information from the pilot will also be For Immediate Release used in a new global LED report that will compare results from The Climate Group’s other global pilot trials and assess the potential energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions in each city.

Over the next few weeks and months, KMC and The Climate Group will host a series of capacity building workshops on the potential of LED technology for other relevant city corporations, development authorities, electricity supply corporations, large housing complex owners and other organisations.

The event was covered by local media. A telecast of the event was made by Kolkata TV, a regional channel. Below is a link to an item on the event in a regional weekly: